Nigel taking up Queensland post

Nigel Birkhead is on the move back to Queensland after a short stint at head office in Perth to take up the role of Sales Manager Queensland Galvanising.

Nigel has happily taken on the role and his return to Queensland will see him link up with his many contacts in the galvanising and general steel industry.

He takes over from Lindsay Jones, who has moved to special projects, implementing all the new building work in the new spinning shop as well as spending a lot of time on Fero’s expansion plans.

“Compared to Perth the market is pretty flat in south-eastern Queensland but the Gladstone LNG project will be going forward in the next few years, as well as numerous coal projects,” Nigel said.

Queensland is not performing as well as the rest of the country, especially after the floods, he said.

“The Fero name not well known in Queensland so one of my tasks will be to get

out there and sell the Fero name and its capabilities.

“By being able to double dip up to 20m in length and with a 16-tonne lifting capacity, the bath is the latest in European automated technology in both in process and environment controls,” he said.

Nigel joined the Fero team from the East Coast where he was most recently the ARC branch manager in Rockhampton dealing mainly with distribution and reinforcing for the previous four years.

Fero Group Sales Manager Philip Martin said Nigel’s new role is a positive step for the company.

“Nigel's professional approach to sales management through activity management will harness the skills of our sales team in Queensland and ensure we maximise the capabilities of our new facility in Narangba.

“The Franco family is continuing to invest in people and infrastructure in Queensland as we embark on stage three of our growth strategy in this market. There are not many steel manufacturers who are investing for growth, but Fero wants to give its customers the opportunity to keep work local by ensuring short lead times and delivering a quality product on time,“ Philip said.

Nigel has a background in steel fabrication and construction.

Nigel hails from Perth and originally left the State in 2004 where he worked for Bluescope and then eight years with the OneSteel Group. He spent two years in Lismore and two years south of Sydney before heading to Rockhampton.